Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Allen Iverson, Carlos Boozer, Dwyane Wade, Jermaine O'Neal, Lamar Odom, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, NBA Free Agency
There must be nothing harder for a professional athlete then to leave a championship team. Of course everyone will say money talks, and they are right most of the time, but leaving a team that finally got things together and won a championship, I just don’t know how you do that.
Well, that is exactly what it looks like Lamar Odom is going to do as he seems to be leaning towards rejoining the Miami Heat. The Los Angeles Lakers obviously want to keep ahold of Odom as he was a key piece to the puzzle for their championship run last season, but the two sides just can’t seem to come to an agreement to keep the forward in LA for the next three seasons or so.
Apparently, the Lakers had a pretty good offer on the table for Odom once the offseason began, but Odom insisted on making at least $10 million a year for the duration for the contract. Now Odom is a great player, perhaps one of the best in the league at small forward, but he has been extremely inconsistent over the years for the Lakers and that is what I think is keeping them for offering what Odom wants to stay in LA.
The Miami Heat on the other hand are doing everything in their power to keep Dwyane Wade in Miami for as long as possible. After next season Wade will be free to pick and chose where he wants to go after becoming a free agent and if he doesn’t think the Heat can contend for a title and it is almost a forgone conclusion that he will hit the road in search for team that he finds worthy.
In an effort to keep Wade the Heat have made a variety of moves which includes bringing Jermaine O’Neal to Florida, exploring a trade for Carlos Boozer from the Utah Jazz and courting Lamar Odom to bring him back to the Heat. There even talks of Allen Iverson joining the squad which would without a doubt instantly turn the Heat into contenders in the East.
If the Heat do manage to get Boozer and Odom that might be just enough to make the Heat contenders in the East once again. They weren’t all that bad last season, but it would be hard to argue that Wade was the only reason for that.
As an attempt to make sure Odom choses the Heat over the Lakers, Wade has flown out to LA to have a little chat with his buddy Lamar and try to convince him to make the move.
Will he sign with the Heat? It is looking highly likely unless the Lakers up their offer to Odom’s liking.
